A new flagship gym going up next to LA Fitness’ Park Place headquarters looks set to cap an impressive year of growth for the Irvine-based fitness chain.
The privately held company, formed in 1984, is now the largest health club operator in the U.S. by revenue and gym count, according to the latest ranking from fitness trade publication Club Industry.
LA Fitness, which now operates under the Fitness International LLC name, overtook San Ramon-based 24 Hour Fitness for the No. 1 spot on both counts over the past year, according to Club Industry’s latest annual rankings, which were released earlier this month.
LA Fitness now has nearly 600 gyms across the country and was estimated by the trade publication to have notched $1.7 billion in revenue last year.
24 Hour Fitness, which held the No. 1 ranking for the prior nine years, operates more than 400 gyms and had $1.5 billion in revenue last year, according to Club Industry’s data.
The Business Journal last month estimated LA Fitness to be Orange County’s 12th-largest private company by revenue, with an estimated $1.2 billion in revenue the prior year.
Recent Growth
The company has nearly doubled the size of its portfolio since 2009. Its biggest burst of growth took place in 2011, when it paid $153 million for 171 clubs from Bally Total Fitness.
It added another 68 clubs last year through acquisitions of regional chains based in Kentucky and Florida.
LA Fitness—which is majority-owned by CIVC Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners of Chicago, and Siedler Equity Partners of Marina del Rey—does not disclose its earnings. It has been one of OC’s most tight-lipped when it comes to the size and scope of its operations.
Officials have been more forthcoming about the company’s aggressive growth plans, which include plenty of gyms being built at vacant big-box retail stores and other empty commercial sites, as well as ground-up development.
LA Fitness officials last year said they expected to open more than 200 new gyms by the end of 2014.
A reading of headlines across the country in recent months indicates that the growth plan is on schedule.
Detroit
Detroit looks to be near the top of the company’s list for new markets. LA Fitness is said to be investing close to $40 million to add six new clubs in Detroit in the next year.
Another 15 to 20 locations could open in the Detroit market in the next few years, company executives recently told Crain’s Detroit Business.
New locations include two gyms going up at closed auto dealerships, according to the local report.
Other growing markets for the company include upstate New York, Houston and various parts of Florida. The company is also said to be scouting locations in downtown Minneapolis.
Last month saw LA Fitness open a gym in Rhode Island, its first in the state. It now has locations in 24 states and Canada.
Southern California remains among the company’s largest markets.
The company last month opened a 75,360- square-foot gym in Oceanside, one of its largest locations to date. The site was previously a Mervyn’s department store.
The company’s under-construction flagship gym at LBA Realty’s mixed-used Park Place campus in Irvine will be 45,000 square feet. It is, however, expected to have amenities to match, if not exceed, the company’s other area locations.
The Irvine project is slated to open later this year.
